Breaking Even
by Just-Like-Ginny
Summary: Ron's thinking about his relationship with Hermione. But Hermione's interpreting his thoughts a bit differently.


"You're nervous?" Ron rolled his eyes and continued fixing the collar of his shirt. "It's just a date, Ron. With Hermione. You've had plenty of them."

"It's _not_ just a date," he responded in a whisper, as if somebody was listening with Extendable Ears, "it's _the_ date."

"You mean you haven't—" Harry's jaw dropped. "Not that I really need to know, but—you've been dating for almost two years! Ginny and I only waited—"

"I _really_ didn't need to hear that." Ron glanced over at Harry, who immediately stopped talking. Sometimes he forgot that Ginny was Ron's little sister. "And that's not what I meant."

"Then what's _the_ date you _are _talking about?"

Ron looked around the room again before taking a small velvet box out of this pocket and he held it up to his best friend. "_This_ date."

---------------

"What are you so nervous about? It's just a date, right?" Ginny continued curling Hermione's hair with her Muggle curler. The magic charms just didn't seem to give it the same bounce as the curler, and Hermione was so accustomed to her hair like it was when she was living with her parents.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah. It's just a date." Ginny finished the curl she was working on, and Hermione shot around to look at her friend. "But Ron's been acting different—like he has a lot on his mind."

Ginny looked worried for a moment, but quickly pushed it aside. "I'm sure it's nothing, Hermione."

"Yeah, you're right." She started to turn back around to let Ginny finish, but stopped halfway, turning to her best friend again. "But what if you're wrong? He's going to break up with me, I know it."

"Hermione," Ginny sat on the bed beside her friend, "Ron's my brother, and best friends with my boyfriend. If he was planning on breaking up with you, I think I'd know."

Hermione shook her head, ignoring the words coming from her best friend. "Maybe I should break up with him before he can do it." Ginny just watched her friend, unaware of what she could say to help. "Yeah. If it seems like he's about to do it, I'll do it first." Ginny silently stood to finish Hermione's hair. Both girls were tense, not knowing how to act or what to say to the other.

---------------

"You're going to propose?"

Ron shrugged is if it was not a big deal. "Like you said, we've been dating for almost two years."

"So have Ginny and I," Harry stated, still in shock over the news he recently learned, "but I'm not proposing." Ron started to turn around before Harry added a quick "Yet."

Ron's ears were a deep pink, and he stared at his reflection in the mirror, trying to keep himself calm. "I don't know. I'm just ready, I guess—I think."

"'Mione's not pregnant, is she?"

Ron let out a chuckle. "First you think we haven't even done anything yet, and now you think she's pregnant." Harry just stared, reminding Ron that he had not answered the questions. "'Course she's not."

Harry looked away, only slightly convinced. "Well she's not moving in here, obviously, and her place is barely even big enough for just her. What are you—"

"Haven't really thought about it yet, Mate. I've been a bit busy worrying about tonight."

"Well what am I supposed to do? Be in this huge house with just Kreacher? I could ask Ginny to move in, but—"

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." There was another awkward silence. Harry decided he needed to stop forgetting that Ginny and Ron were siblings. Ron glanced at his watch, closed his eyes, and took one very large breath. "Well, I guess it's time for me to go."

"It'll be fine. You two have been in love for five years. Probably even longer." Ron gave a small grin; glad to finally be getting some support from his best mate. "See you tonight?"

Ron laughed, only slightly nervously. "We'll see about that." And he took another deep breath, turned, and walked out the door.

---------------

Both the brunette and the redhead strolled nervously into the restaurant, focusing their attention on random objects in the dimly lit room and silently rehearsing the very different conversations that they have each been planning. He pulled out the chair as they reached their table, and she silently sat, giving him a polite smile.

"So," Hermione spoke, looking around the fancy restaurant, "why so fancy tonight?"

He shrugged, also looking around. "I just thought this would be a good place to—erm—" He paused, searching for the words, as to not give anything away. Hermione wondered how _any _place could be good place for this. "—Go," he finished, before adding a quick, "tonight." He looked up at her, a nervous smile forming over his lips. "You look gorgeous, by the way."

Hermione tried to hide her rolling eyes. Why was he being so sweet? "Can we just get this over with?" He looked at her in shock, surprise not spreading across his entire face. "I know there's something you want to talk about."

His face flushed to a deep pink color. "Oh, you do?" She nodded, and his nerves returned, even stronger than before. He took yet another very large breath before beginning his plan. "Well, we've been together for almost two years now, and I just think—"

"I agree." She had tears in her eyes; although it was obvious she was trying to hide them. Ron scrunched his eyebrows, confused about what was happening. This was not how he planned tonight's conversation to go at all. "It's been too long. We need to go our separate ways."

Ron's jaw dropped. Had she just said what he thought she said? His face was pale now. "You want to break up?"

---------------

"_Propose?_"

Harry laughed at Ginny's shocked tone. She was not expecting this any more than he was. "Yeah. Surprising, huh?"

"No, you don't understand. Hermi—"

"Sure I do. I couldn't believe it, either. I even asked if Hermione was pregnant, but he said no. I think—"

"Hermione thought Ron was planning to break up with her!" Ginny was pale and began to pace around the room. "She was determined to break up with him before he got the chance."

Harry froze, now understanding why Ginny was overreacting—or rather, reacting the way anyone would. "Why would she think he was breaking up with her?"

Ginny was still pacing, trying to piece everything together and figure out a way to stop her best friend from making the biggest mistake of her life. "She said he was acting differently to her—I guess he was just nervous about what he knew he had planned." She suddenly stopped moving and planted her feet, facing Harry. "Why didn't he tell either of us?"

Harry grabbed Ginny's wrist and pulled her onto his lap in an attempt to calm her. "I guess he thought that if he told either of us, she'd find out before he got the chance to ask." Ginny let out a breath and leaned her back into Harry's chest. She distractedly played with his hand as she continued to try to find a way to help Ron and Hermione. "I don't think there's anything we can do right now."

At that, Ginny turned around to look at him, shocked that he could give up so easily. "There _has_ to be something." They stared into each other's sorrowful eyes, both just wanting to know what their friends were doing at that very moment.

---------------

"You want to break up?" Ron could not believe this was happening. He was ready to ask her to be with him forever, and she was telling him she wanted just the opposite. He was just glad he had not asked _before_ she did it. That would have been embarrassing.

Hermione avoided his eyes, looking down at the tablecloth. "Don't you?" She brought her hand to her cheek, wiping a single tear that had started to fall from her eye.

Ron felt lost. For the first time in years, he had no idea what Hermione was thinking. "What are you—why would I—" He could not find the right words. His voice was catching in his throat, and he settled on a simple, "_what?_"

Hermione's voice was quiet, which was another fact Ron was not used to. She was usually so assertive and sure of herself. "You've been acting distant and your mind has been wondering during our dates." She kept looking down as she spoke, scared to look into his blue eyes. "I'm letting you go. You don't have to—" Ron's laughter shut her up quickly. She mustered up the energy to send a death stare his way—even Ron could not be _that_ rude—and she grabbed her purse and began to leave the table.

Ron quickly grabbed her hand before she could stand completely, causing her to turn toward him as she finished her standing motion. "You want to know why I've been acting strange?" As bizarre as it seemed to him, the confusion had settled his nerves. He felt no anxiety what so ever as he pulled the small box from his pocket, left his seat, and knelt down on one knee.

Hermione's eyes shot open in shock as Ron held the box up to her, and revealed the diamond ring inside. "Bloody Hell!"

A grin formed in the corner of Ron's lips as she said the words that she had inquired from him, but he could not react. Not even her thievery of _his _phrase could stop this from going just right. "Marry me?" The words felt natural—as if he had said them to her so many times before. It was at that moment he decided that no matter her response, he had done the right thing in asking.

Her eyes were not yet dry when a new kind of tears formed in them. "Ron, I—" she shook her head, as if bringing herself back to reality, "of course!"

Just then, an owl swooped into the restaurant and dropped a red envelope, which brushed against Hermione's nose as it fell onto her lap. She picked it up to look at it. It was from Ginny. As she began to open it, Ron quickly stopped her, looking around the quiet restaurant at all the people. "Not here!" She gave him a questioning look, and he motioned to the envelope, "that's a Howler!"

Hermione remembered the Howler Ron had gotten during his second year at Hogwarts, and was glad Ron had stopped her. If Ron's had been that embarrassing in that loud dinner hall, she could only imagine the embarrassment she would suffer from opening one in this quiet restaurant. "But why would Ginny send me a—" She then noticed the words written under her name.

_Open alone. NOW._

She let out a short chuckle, predicting what the Howler was about. "Hey, Ron?" She looked up at him, and he was already looking at her, waiting to hear what she has to ask. "Did Harry know what you were planning tonight?"

"Hmm?" He seemed confused. "Yeah, I told him tonight while I was getting ready." She smiled, knowing her prediction was correct. "Why?"

"I think I know what this is about," she stated, holding the red envelope up. "Come on." She quickly stood from the table and ran out the back door. The waiter looked over at her sudden jolt, and Ron gave a _one moment_ signal, hoping the waiter would believe they would be back, and were not trying to run out on the bill before their main courses even arrived. Then, he ran out the door after Hermione, wondering what was happening.

Hermione waited until Ron was standing beside her before she opened the envelope. The paper loosened itself from her grip, and started talking in front of her face. _"Hermione! I sure hope you're alone right now. PLEASE DON'T DO ANYTHING STUPID! I know why Ron's been acting funny, and it's not what you think. Just let him talk."_ There was a bit of rustling in the background, before Harry's voice came through, sounding a bit further away than Ginny's had. _"Bye, 'Mione. See you later." _And Ginny's voice responded, _"yeah. Bye. And I hope I'm not too late!"_

As the note finished, Ron and Hermione just looked at each other, laughing. As it turned out, Ginny _was_ too late, but it hadn't mattered. They had been able to work it out on their own, which was better. "You should write a letter back," Ron stated, with a smirk on his face, "as if she were too late and we had broken up."

Hermione smiled at him, "I have a better idea."

---------------

Harry and Ginny sat in twelve Grimmauld Place, anxiously waiting to hear any news from their two best friends. The door swung open, and Ron came storming in, slamming the door behind him. Harry and Ginny quickly stood and looked over toward him, looking for emotion. They immediately were worried by what they saw.

Ron stared at his sister and best friend, awaiting the first words to come from his mouth. "She's an obnoxious, snot-faced, freak." Each word was met with anger and matched the wetness in his eyes.

Ginny gasped at her brother's words. Had her warning come too late? "What happened?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Harry and Ginny were silent, just staring at Ron. He sighed, and began the story. "I started talking about our relationship, working up the courage to do it. And then she started talking about how we've been together for too long, and we should break up, and stormed out the door." His friend and sister kept staring, mouths open in shock and eyes wide, and so he continued. "Then she suddenly came in apologizing, but I was so mad. She's too—we're—it's over. For good." His face was red with anger and sadness.

Harry and Ginny looked at each other, not knowing how to respond. Ginny then glanced back at her brother as a quick "poor Hermione" escaped her voice.

"Poor _Hermione?_" Ron shrieked. "I was ready to ask her to _marry_ me and instead she _broke up_ with me. This was _her_ fault, not mine!"

Ginny shook her head at her big brother. "I should go make sure she's alright." She headed toward the door. "Do you—"

Ron stared at the floor. "Just get out of here." Sighing, Ginny turned and walked out the door.

A moment later, Ginny's scream echoed through the door. Harry jolted outside as Ron finally let laughter poor out of him. Ginny and Hermione were standing there, Hermione laughing hysterically, and Ginny breathing heavily, a small smile on her face. "Got ya'!" It was Ron that said it, a big smile on his face. Hermione silently held up her hand, exposing the engagement ring Harry had seen earlier in the box Ron had been holding.

"But you did—" Ginny cut herself off, looking between the two of them, "Ron, you can act?"

He blushed. "Hermione put an acting charm on me before I walked into the house." Harry and Ginny nod, realizing that made much more sense.

"Well, I'm glad everything worked out for you." He looked at Ginny, who gave him a small smile. "We've got something to tell you, too." He took Ginny's hand into his, and looked at her, urging her to continue.

"We—err—I'm pregnant." Hermione's immediate reaction was to look at Ron, who instantly flushed to an angry shade of red.

"_What?_" He was staring angrily at Harry now. "All that about you thinking Hermione was pregnant today, and—"

"Harry thought I was pregnant?"

"That's not the point!" Ron cut her off. "How could you? She's my sister! You can't just—"

"Umm, Ron?" Ginny spoke quietly.

"What?" He snapped, angrily, still red in the face.

Harry was the one to respond. "Got ya' back."

Hermione let out a snort as she started laughing. Ron stood still for a moment, until he finally understood what had just happened, and a smile made its way to his cheeks. "Alright," he stated, "we're even."


End file.
